Unique premed question?

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Hey,

So I'm new to this forum (as in having an account) but have used this forum multiple times before. My question is fairly simple/straightforward (I think).

I'm currently a sophomore in college. Over this past summer I realized I wanted to become a doctor and go into the field of medicine. My freshmen year I was a finance/math double major. When I realized that I wanted to become a doctor, I completely redid my schedule for the fall semester. Basically I doubled up on science/premed prereq courses. Unfortunately, I am not doing as well as I hoped.

I am already aware of the the overall gpa and the bcpm gpa. But my freshmen year gpa in combination with this semesters gpa (aniticated gpa anyways) is low and I will have to pull this up. My question is do med schools take into account my performance in business courses in the sense that they will look more into how I did in my science courses. I don't know, I just feel like I may have closed the door on med school for me.

Any helpful/insightful responses are welcomed, and thank you in advance to all responses.

p.s. As of right now my gpa is around a 3.1 (I know this is bad in terms of the premed scale).

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They mainly look at your overall GPA and your science GPA, not necessarily business specific. While your GPA is low, you're still early on in your academic career to bring your grades back up. Being that this is a newer goal of yours, I would recommend focusing on your science courses to see if you find them interesting. It is more important that medicine is your passion, and the grades will follow. I would not give up just yet though! Best of luck.
 
They mainly look at your overall GPA and your science GPA, not necessarily business specific. While your GPA is low, you're still early on in your academic career to bring your grades back up. Being that this is a newer goal of yours, I would recommend focusing on your science courses to see if you find them interesting. It is more important that medicine is your passion, and the grades will follow. I would not give up just yet though! Best of luck.

Thank you for your response. I know I still have five semesters left to improve my gpa. I don't want to add on an extra year (not that there's anything wrong with it) but I always intended on completing college in four years. I know medicine is what I want to do. I'm interested in psychiatry, I want to study and help individuals with depression. The only caveat, or rather two caveats, are that my senior year grades won't be in play if I apply after my junior year. This worries me because that really only leaves me with three semesters worth of grades that would build up my gpa.
 
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I took 6 years to finish my undergrad, and for me personally, I think that made me a stronger applicant. It's never too late. I'd say wait until you take the MCAT to decide if you're ready to submit your app.
 
If it makes you feel better OP, I ended freshman year with a 3.2 and a W, then sophomore year with a 3.5, and got my grades in shape by the end of junior year so that I could apply. You may need an extra year but it's definitely doable. The biggest difference came after I figured out how to study -- after that it was just a matter of finding the time and motivation to do it. See what your premed friends do, what your professors and tutors recommend, what people here recommend to get a better idea of what you need to be doing.
 
This. And upward GPA trends are always looked at favorably.


They mainly look at your overall GPA and your science GPA, not necessarily business specific. While your GPA is low, you're still early on in your academic career to bring your grades back up. Being that this is a newer goal of yours, I would recommend focusing on your science courses to see if you find them interesting. It is more important that medicine is your passion, and the grades will follow. I would not give up just yet though! Best of luck.
 
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You're nearly complete with 3 semesters of undergrad and are anticipating a 3.1, then at least another 3 semesters before you apply--plenty of time to raise your GPA, just be careful not to overload yourself and make sure you can succeed in your courses! Like Goro said, upward GPA trends are looked at favorably. If you are worried about not having enough credits, you could always take some summer courses and still graduate within 4 years. The mean age of students entering medical school is 24, so if you take an additional year before applying, it won't hurt you. Take a look at your GPA and such after each semester and see how you are trending. I highly recommend taking biochemistry before taking the MCAT, fyi!

The door is definitely not closed for you!
 
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